


Sing Those Barbershop Blues

by bisexualamy



Series: Trans!Steve Fics [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Childhood, Fluff, Gen, Pre-Captain America: The First Avenger, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Trans Male Character, Trans Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-19
Updated: 2016-05-19
Packaged: 2018-06-09 10:42:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6902590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualamy/pseuds/bisexualamy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve wants a haircut, but not just any haircut: a man's haircut.  But to get the short hair he's always wanted, he's going to have to face the barbershop.</p><p>(Steve/Bucky loosely implied, but whether it's friendship or something more is up to you.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sing Those Barbershop Blues

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a throwaway line in my [previous trans!Steve fic,](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6898246) and partially inspired by my own nervousness as a trans guy going to a barbershop for the first time. Also, smooth-talking Bucky Barnes is my new favorite thing.

“C’mon Stevie, I’ll be there with you the whole time, and if anyone tries anything, I’ll sock ‘em.”

They were standing across the street from the barbershop a two minute’s walk from Steve’s home.  Steve watched as the pole next to the store twirled around and around, the colors blurred together as his eyes went out of focus.  He’d walked past this shop a thousand times, wondering what it would be like to go in, wishing he could get a hot shave or a haircut from the old Italian man who cut just about every guy’s hair in this part of Brooklyn.  This was where men went to swap stories and catch up.  This is where Bucky had gotten his hair cut since the two of them were in elementary school.  And this is where Steve had wanted to go to chop his hair off since the beginning.

They were fifteen.  Fifteen was hardly an age to scoff at, but it was still young.  He could be written off in a heartbeat if he went in there and asked for a haircut.  They’d call him a silly girl, or at best, a tomboy, and chuckle.  Steve wouldn’t be able to handle that.

“Maybe this was a dumb idea, Buck,” Steve said, turning to leave.  “Like they’d ever-”

“Listen,” Bucky said, grabbing his arm and pulling his friend back.  Little Steve, try as he might, didn’t stand a chance.  “You’ve been talking about how you wanted to get rid of your hair for months.  We came up with this plan two weeks ago, and you haven’t been able to shut yourself up about it since then.  Now, you’re going to go in there and get a haircut, even if I have to drag you in myself.”

Steve sighed, realizing that he had no other option.  Bucky was doing what he thought was best, and honestly, he was probably right, but that didn’t ease Steve’s worry in the slightest.

As the two boys walked into the barbershop, a little bell rang to signify their entrance.

“Just a moment!” the barber called, not looking up.  He was shaving the back of a man’s neck, someone in his early thirties.  Steve looked around at a place he’d only imagined stepping into for years.  The black and white tiled floor, the red barber’s chair, the smell of shampoo and shaving cream.  He looked to his left and saw some chairs surrounding a table full of back issue magazines and newspapers.  Sitting in two of them were two other guys, one looking pretty young, probably twenties, and one looking like he could be Steve and Bucky’s father.  The younger guy had looked up at the sound of the bell, and Steve felt his breath catch in his throat, but after a moment the man looked back down at the newspaper he was reading, unfazed.

“Alright,” the barber said, finishing the haircut he’d been working on before turning towards the door.  “How can I- Bucky!”  He smiled wide as he saw Bucky’s familiar face.  “What can I do for you?  And who’s your friend?”

“This here is Stevie,” Bucky said.  Steve knew he always used the nickname in public because it sounded more gender neutral, and while he didn’t mind it when he knew it was a term of endearment, it stung when it was used to cover up the truth.  He knew what was going to happen now.  Bucky was going to talk his way into getting Steve a haircut, avoiding pronouns as best he could, and if all went well, Steve was going to start looking like he’d always wanted.

“Now, Stevie wants a haircut, and not just any haircut, but a man's haircut.  A haircut any respectable young man would want, and I told him you’d be just the guy for the job.”

“But why would a pretty girl like you want a man’s haircut?” the barber asked.  Steve tried not to grimace at what was supposed to be a compliment.  Bucky jumped in before Steve could even show a reaction.

“You see, that’s just the thing, sir: you’ve never had long hair.  Well, Stevie here’s got to take care of her hardworking mother, you know Ms. Rogers, don’t you?  Anyway, Stevie doesn’t have time to fuss with long hair, not when there are things to do and people to care for, so to make everyone’s lives easier, to make that poor mother happy, it’s absolutely necessary that you give Stevie the best men's haircut you can.”

The barber paused for a moment, before breaking into another amused smile and saying, “well, Bucky, I suppose I can’t argue with that.  Of course, your friend’s going to have to wait over there, like every other customer.”

“Of course,” Bucky said.  “Wouldn’t dream of breaking the rules, sir.”

Steve couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  Did it work?  Was he really going to get the haircut he wanted?  As he sat in one of the chairs, anxiously flipping through a magazine he wasn’t reading, he didn’t notice how much time had passed.  When the barber called his name a third time, Bucky elbowed him and said, “don’t just sit there.  Go get your hair cut.”

Trying not to shake, Steve walked over to the barber’s chair and climbed into it.  The chair felt too big for his small body, and his legs didn’t even reach the platform they were supposed to rest on, but as the barber wrapped a cloth around him and said, “are you sure you want this, sweetheart?” Steve mustered up all of his courage and said, “yes, absolutely.”

The experience wasn’t nearly as momentous as Steve had imagined.  It was about fifteen minutes of cutting, fixing, and shaving.  The barber had him turned away from the mirror, joking that he didn’t want Steve going into shock halfway through the haircut, but after those fifteen minutes of anticipation, the barber turned the chair towards the mirror and said, “here you go.  It’s what you asked for, so don’t sue me if you don’t like it.”

Steve hardly recognized his reflection.  His once long hair had been cut down to barely anything.  The hair on his neck and at the base of his skull was shaved down to practically nothing, and even his longest hair, his bangs, didn’t even make it to his eyebrows.

He loved it.

“Thank you!” Steve exclaimed, practically jumping out of the seat, unable to contain his excitement.  “How much do I owe you?”

The barber patted Steve’s newly cut hair and said, “you’re doing a good thing, helping your mother like this.  Consider this my favor to her, and hey, if you like it, come back and I’ll do it again for you.”

“Of course, sir!” Steve exclaimed.  As he and Bucky, who’d been watching the whole thing over the top of a newspaper, left the barbershop, Bucky said, “see, Steve?  I told you it’d be a breeze.”

“Buck, I can’t thank you enough,” Steve said.  “Promise me you’ll take me with you next time you get a haircut?”

“I wouldn’t dream of bringing anyone else.”

**Author's Note:**

> 1/1/17: Thank you for the 100 kudos! I'm glad you guys enjoyed it <3


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